I have configured a batch (.BAT) file on a DOS boot disk to run overnight backup jobs using Norton Ghost. The backup procedure works perfectly, but after the backup has completed I want the computer to automatically power-down. This seems like an easy to accomplish task, but after much research I have not found a program which achieves this task.

I also conducted some research into this issue, and have not been able to find any programs which allow a computer to power-down from a pure DOS command prompt. Possible reasons for the lack of such utilities is that ATX power supplies (which support the automatic power-down) feature were only introduced in the post-DOS era, when operating systems such as Windows became popular. So there was really no need for automatic shutdown utilities. Furthermore, since DOS doesn’t actually have a shutdown procedure (instead, you just turn off the computer at the command prompt) there was never really a need for such a feature, unless you want to do a task like yours. I have not used Norton Ghost in a while, but perhaps it has a function to automatically shutdown after imaging a hard drive. It would be worthwhile exploring the Ghost options to see if such a function exists. In the meantime, if any other readers know of such a utility then please let me know.